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Our 23rd ranked pass defense has 3 of our 4 starters in the secondary leading the pro bowl voting. The one thats missing is actually our best secondary player, but is on IR. This just proves that Pro Bowls mean nothing. Cary Williams and Pro Bowl don't even belong in the same sentence.

I think that number is overblown. We play bend but don't break. We'll give you the dink-and-dunk stuff all day but you aren't getting the big play on us.

Don't look now but we're now #7 in scoring defense and tied for #9 in yards per play (T-15 in passing yards per attempt and #9 in rushing yards per attempt).

Certainly helps that we've had a chance to play the Browns, the Raiders, a Chargers offense with no OL, and the Steelers with Byron Leftwich at QB... all in recent weeks.

I'm still not convinced that this defense is as good as it has looked the past few weeks. I'll wait until we play a for real squad like the Steelers with Big Ben and the Broncos led by Manning.

Either way, what in the world are the voters thinking to vote in Cary Williams?? I wouldn't even vote for him as a homer vote... I almost feel like we're being trolled right now.

The guy gets constantly abused for times in games, but makes big time interceptions to seal the game... so sportcenter fans think he must be good... that's the only possible logic I can fathom.

I mean he's been better as of late since Pees has allowed him to be more aggressive in coverage, but still... not probowl worthy. Perhaps its because all the injuries to AFC corners has really destroyed what people see as the usual suspects... and now they're just going off team defense prestige... have no idea.

I mean, we also faced the Eagles when they still had it together, the Pats, the Texans, the Cowboys and other good/decent offenses (Bengals, maybe), which all get factored into those numbers. Everyone faces some good teams and some bad teams. I'm not trying to pimp them, but they certainly aren't bottom 5 and reports of their demise may have been a bit premature. That's all I'm saying.

numerous other teams that are in those rankings, being compared to the Ravens, have had the opportunity to the Jacksonvilles, Cutler-less Bears, Cardinals, etc. who the Ravens haven't had the chance to beat up on.

I'm not arguing statistics here. I'm arguing quality. I know enough to know that our defense isn't bottom 5 without the stats... but just how good IS this defense really? I'm not convinced that we're some top 10 unit that's just starting to get it together and so the numbers don't reflect our ability. I'm moreso convinced that we're still the same mediocre middle of the pack defense... and against a solid offense, and not four inept units, we will actually look mediocre. This is the point in the season where identities are established.

Our stats aren't telling us any kind of story here. We've been a horrific unit against the 3rd down until we started playing terrible units... did the back finally heal itself... or is this simply the Icy/Hot effect we're seeing right now? I could care less about stats at this point in the season. I want to know what we have... I want to know the quality of this unit. Is Dean Pees not the worst defensive coordinator of the past decade really? Is he really not worse than Greg Mattison? Might he actually be half decent and just needed some time to get his system rolling? These are important questions for what kind of chances I think this team has to make a splash come playoff time. These questions are also important in determining if Pees has a job next season. Perhaps he's not Darth Pees after all... or maybe he's only trolling us since we're playing bad squads.

Not trying to say that we're an awesome unit that is getting it together necessarily, just saying that we're not really be as bad as we all seemed to think we were. Yes, statistics don't tell the full story and we're coming off a string of games in which we should have performed well. That being said, being so spoiled for the last decade with great defenses year-after-year may have inflated our expectations, so I think there is some value in looking at the numbers to see where we rank in various defensive metrics compared to other teams.

I think there's definitely some truth in the idea that our defense has benefited from playing some weaker competition in the past couple of weeks, but it's also clear that they're playing with more confidence and cohesion. And Suggs' return has had a really pleasant ripple effect of allowing Kruger to shift back over to a role he is far more affective in, even if Suggs himself is still playing himself back into Ball So Hard shape.

One thing we haven't really discussed on here is the fact that Dean Pees moved from the sideline to the booth after the bye week. I think this has been a huge boost for the defense; he's clearly seeing the field and game better from there and I think you can see a noticeable difference in the scheme and packages that we're using situationally as opposed to what we saw at the beginning of the season. This defense isn't what it once was, but I think it's definitely finding its feet at the right time._________________

And my hope is that we are indeed finding our footing. But I'm taking this new play with a grain, until we play a for real team.

Though I do agree that it appears as though we have a new found swagger defensively- a confidence to our play. So with that I'm hoping that once we do come up against a for real offense we have the confidence to keep up our play.

I hope we truly are an improved defense, but until I see us pass a true test... I'll have to doubt our current "improvement"._________________

Heh. I read "Williams" being mentioned here as a Pro Bowl contender, and not once did I think it might be Cary. I figured you guys were talking about someone from another team.

No way that guy should be in the Pro Bowl, especially when he shares a conference with the likes of Johnathan Joseph, Joe Haden, Antonio Cromartie and others.

I could be wrong about this but I believe Joe Haden is ineligible for the pro bowl because of the Shawn Merriman rule that states a player to be ineligible for the Probowl in the same season where they were suspended for substance abuse.

That being said, Ike Taylor is another great AFCN corner that should DEFINITELY be ahead of Cary Williams. Same with Brandon Flowers. Though without a list, I'd probably struggle beyond that as well. You could definitely argue Keenan Lewis... But he's only been balling for this season whereas Cary was pretty good last year as a #2 and has been our #1 for most of this season. He's been picked on either way, but he does have a little wider resume of production at this point. So with all the injuries and suspensions... Cary just might be the 5th/6th best corner in the conference now that I think about it... Though I know that's not actually possible and so I must be forgetting a whole host of names that should clearly be ahead of him... Because there's no way Cary should ever sniff a top 5 list logically speaking. _________________

Last edited by diamondbull424 on Thu Nov 29, 2012 5:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

When I saw Williams leading the Pro Bowl vote, I knew the NFL was filled with silly fans. Well... I knew before, but this just solidified it.

No Joe Flacco? It's getting old, NFL! It's getting old!

Why the heck would Joe Flacco be in the Pro Bowl right now? I can't make an argument for him over Brady, Manning, Roethlisberger, or Schaub at this point.

EDIT: For CB's in the AFC, the only guys ahead of Cary would be Ike, Brandon Flowers and Antonio Cromartie. JJo has been garbage this year and Joe Haden is ineligible._________________#FireDeanPees...and Chris Hewitt....and Matt Weiss

Pollard deserves it, I think he's been almost as good as any safety in the league this year to be quite honest (Weddle's probably been the best IMO).

Cary Williams is certainly not a pro bowl caliber player, but he takes too much heat from our fan base. I'm pretty happy with his play, because he is what he is. He's a great 3rd corner on a top notch D and a more than serviceable starting caliber corner on anything other than a great D IMO. And with Smith and Webb out for most of this season already, he's been taking on the responsibilites of a #1 corner.